DAVAO CITY—Fifty-two men and their wives attended a very successful and inspiring four-day seminar-workshop held at the GSP camp in Toril, Davao City from December 23 to 26. The seminar-workshop was conducted by Mr. Edmond D. Macaraeg, pastor of the UCG congregations in Mindanao. It would be recalled that almost exactly a year prior to this, there were 62 who assembled at this same venue to attend the first “discipleship” seminar. This recent seminar-workshop was a logical and a much-needed follow-up to that—the answer to the crying need for manpower, as well as a higher level of dedication and performance among those who assist in the various UCG congregations in Mindanao.

There are currently a total of 20 congregations and video groups in Mindanao. With a land area of almost 100,000 square kilometers, Mindanao is the second largest island in the Philippines. Fifty-one congregational assistants help Mr. Macaraeg oversee more than 400 brethren scattered in these areas: Bagaobawan (Valencia City), Bukidnon; Banisilan, Cotabato; Bunawan, Agusan del Sur; Butuan City, Agusan del Norte; Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental; Davao City, Davao del Sur; Diatagon (Lianga), Surigao del Sur; Isulan, Sultan Kudarat; Kiara (Don Carlos), Bukidnon; Kidapawan City, Cotabato; Litig (Musuan) and Maramag, Bukidnon; Mati City, Davao Oriental; Pantukan, Compostela Valley; Prosperidad, Agusan del Sur; Quezon, Bukidnon; Santiago, Surigao del Norte; Santo Tomas, Davao del Norte; Tago, Surigao del Sur, and Tagum City, Davao del Norte. Mr. Paul Cebrian, an elder based in Butuan City, assists Mr. Macaraeg in pastoring the members in Northern Mindanao and oversees the brethren and video groups in the Caraga Region (Region XIII).

All the participants stayed at the white building dormitory and a couple of the duplex housing units, while the sessions and dining were held at the Bougainvilla Hall. And similar to last year, because of the Church’s good relationship with the GSP management, we were given the privilege of using the facility without any of their regular employees present. Since this was during the Christmas break, all the GSP staff went on vacation; only one guard was retained to man the gate. Also to save on costs, we prepared and cooked our own meals. Apart from the 52 seminar-workshop participants, there were nine people from the Davao City congregation who prepared and served the meals for everyone.

Not counting the three introductory sessions on Sunday, there were a total of seven lectures and five sessions for practicum during the four-day seminar-workshop. Breakfast was served from 6:30 to 7:30 a.m. The sessions began at 8 am. The first lecture ends at 9:30, followed by a 15-minute break. Then another lecture follows from 9:45 to 11:15 a.m. This was followed by a 15-minute Q&A session. Lunch is then served from noon to 1 p.m. There are also two lectures in the afternoon, from 1:30 to 3 p.m. and from 3:15 to 4:45 p.m. Of course, there is still the usual 15-minute break and 15 minutes of Q&A. Dinner is served from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. After dinner, there is one last lecture or module (from 7:30 to 9 p.m.), for a total of five every day.

The seminar-workshop began after lunch on Sunday, December 23. Mr. Macaraeg mentioned on the welcome address the need for this training—why it had been planned. A binder was provided to each congregational assistant with all the handouts and forms included. After dinner, the various congregational assistants gave short updates about the congregations they were assigned to look after. It was very interesting and eye-opening for everyone to hear about the unique challenges being faced by each of the other congregations.

On Monday morning, the first lecture was “In Search of a Faithful Servant.” Mr. Macaraeg said, “God is looking all over the earth for somebody who can be trusted, and who can consistently live up to the expectations enumerated in 1 Timothy chapter 3, and in Titus chapter 1.” The second lecture that morning was “The Shepherd’s Heart.” According to Mr. Macaraeg, many people are like commanders, overlords, drill sergeants—they can command, they can bark orders, they can shout. He then drew the difference between a cowboy and a shepherd. Both bring animals from Point A to Point B—from pasture 1 to pasture 2. The cowboy with his long whip shouts and lashes on the backs of all the cows and rounds them up. And if they’re slow, he fires his gun—BANG! The cows run in fear. That’s a cowboy. But he said a shepherd never raises his voice. Instead of being at the back of the flock, he is at the head and leads them, and he calls the sheep by name and they follow him. That’s the difference. And the true shepherd will even give up his life for the sheep. Then he also distinguished a hireling from a shepherd. He said: “I want each of you to be willing to live and die with your congregations! I don’t need a person who cannot meet this expectation; he can be just a hireling. If your people suffer, you suffer. That is the kind of leadership that I want and which God needs… It’s not easy—it’s not supposed to be glamorous work. But that is what is required of a true shepherd.” Then he proceeded to illustrate and expound on each of the verses in Psalm 23 and John 10 among others.

In the afternoon of Monday, Mr. Macaraeg talked about “The Role of a Leader’s Wife.” He emphasized that a man needs the support of his wife. They have to work as a team—like the right foot and the left foot. If one is dragging, or limping along, they cannot effectively move forward. They have to support and counter-balance each other. The wife needs to occasionally remind her husband and point out things in a gentle way. While being the leader, the husband should also be humble enough to have a listening ear. He said both husband and wife should work as a team because a man is just one half emotionally, mentally, and psychologically. The other half is in the woman. God created it that way. The ministry is never complete if it’s just the “macho” mentality. There needs to be a mother’s touch and a mother’s heart. These two have to attend to the total needs of the congregation.

In the second period of Monday afternoon, Mr. Macaraeg talked about “Podium Ethics.” What do you say in the pulpit? What should you not say? How should you say things? Some things are appropriate for the pulpit, some are definitely not. He said it is important to be gentle because—and he made reference to the proverb—”A brother offended is harder to win than a strong city” (Proverbs 18:19). He said that sometimes you need to—it’s your responsibility to—put things on the line—what is right is right, and what is wrong is wrong. He said we cannot be politicians. We cannot say the things that people just want to hear. We have to gently but frankly point out what the Bible says. We should not be swayed or intimidated by a person’s level of influence or wealth. He emphasized that there should be no bribery, no shady dealing, in the ministry.

On Monday evening, Mr. Macaraeg discussed “Basic Principles of Counseling.” He pointed out that counselling is a complicated and challenging subject, because one of the most difficult things to deal with is human nature. Why? The human heart can be “deceitful above all things and desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9). People can hide, or bend the facts to their own liking, to save face, or to deceive, until eventually it’s very far from reality. Thus, counselling can be difficult and challenging. But the important thing is—with the help of God and the basic principles presented—to know how to help our members sort out their problems and their relationships.

On Tuesday, we had a practicum on Song Leading and Answering Bible Questions. We prepared Bible questions on strips of paper, folded them, and put them in a jar. Each man in turn took out a piece of paper, read it before the body, and attempted to answer it within two minutes. Where needed, Mr. Macaraeg provided the correct biblical explanations and coached the men on how to improve their answers.
After lunch of Tuesday, we had three sessions of Sermonette practice (all of the afternoon and evening of Tuesday). He chose a few men to speak for 10 minutes and evaluated how they delivered their messages. He, along with the group’s input, suggested helpful tips on how to improve on the content and/or the delivery.

On Wednesday morning, there were two final sessions. The first one was on “Personal Godly Character Development.” Mr. Macaraeg said, “It does not matter how great a speaker or orator you are, how dynamic your personality is, how rich your vocabulary or how knowledgeable you are—if your character is defective, you are not qualified. He said there are many cases of religious leaders who have fallen into disgrace. Without godly character, a “therapist” can become “the rapist.” He said it has happened many times in the world, even in the great churches and in great religions. You may be the “mentor,” but if you are not trained properly, and don’t have the godly character, you could become the “tormentor.” That will disqualify one from service in the ministry. He emphasized that you cannot, should not, ought not, take advantage of the members. Even to as much as hint that you desire a thing that belongs to one in your charge. You cannot accept bribes or gifts. The Bible says a bribe can blind one’s eyes (Exodus 23:8 and Deuteronomy 16:19).

The second lecture on the final day, Wednesday, was “Catching the Vision of a Mission.” Mr. Macaraeg explained that in our materialistic society it is hard to find people for the work of God and the ministry. In some cases, it is considered one of the most unflattering and unattractive of jobs. He said, “It’s not an 8-to-5 job, where when the clock strikes 5, you are done for the day. Ours can often be a 24-hour job. Sometimes in the middle of the night you have to attend to a problem, counsel, or even get out of your bed and visit somebody. It’s not a job for those looking for comfort and convenience. You have to weep with them who weep; you have to visit sadness and tragedy and many other problems. You have to be there with them and try to offer solutions and comfort.” Moreover, he said, “I don’t want you to have any illusions or false expectations. I’m not promising any of you a rose garden. I’m not promising any of you salary, benefits, a car, an allowance—none of these things. It is up to God to supply our needs. But like Jesus Christ said, what I can tell you is that you’ll have to go through trials and tribulations, through sufferings and heartaches, through disappointments—even betrayal—from the hands of people you trusted… and possibly even death. Who would like to accept that? You could die in the work. You could be killed. You can be threatened. The apostles died. So it’s a calling that most people will run away from! Who wants that kind of job?”

Yet Christ said, “look at the fields for they are already white for harvest” (Matt. 9:37-38; Luke 10:2; John 4:35-38). Who among you is ready to help in the great harvest?

He concluded the seminar-workshop by reading the “God’s Special Forces Creed” [in the inset]. Then he said, “This is the creed that I’d like us to consider before you go. If you cannot commit to this, I’ll not blame you—you’re just human. But if you think you can commit to this: Welcome, brother, to the Work of God.”

After saying this, Mr. Macaraeg bowed and paused for about 40 seconds. He would later relate, “I was personally choked with emotion just before the commissioning aspect when I sensed that all were now willing not only to teach and to serve, but to even live and die with their respective congregations.”

He then announced the new configuration for the Mindanao congregations effective January 1, 2008. (In the past, due to lack of trained manpower, more than one man served several different congregations, such that there was no clear accountability from Sabbath to Sabbath.) Effective 2008, each couple or person will now be assigned and responsible for one area, or two at the most. Also the groups will be reconfigured such that those congregations composed basically of one clan or family will be reclassified as a video group (VG) starting 2008:

1. Bagaobawan (VG)—Mr-s. Simplicio Cambare
2. Banisilan (VG)—Mr-s. Francisco Basilio
3. Bunawan (VG)—Mr-s. David Obsequio
4. Butuan City—Mr-s. Paul Cebrian, assisted by Mr-s. James Presbitero
5. Cagayan de Oro City—Mr-s. Paul Cebrian, assisted by Mr-s. Victorio Gervise
6. Davao City—Mr-s. Edmond Macaraeg, assisted by Mr. Daniel Macaraeg, Mr-s. Charles Macaraeg; Mr-s. Gem Nagtalon, Mr-s. Roy Gilos, and Mr. David Macaraeg. (Mindanao Pastoral Staff: Mr-s. Rodrigo Florencondia, Mr. Alvin Abrau, Mr. Richard Macaraeg.)
7. Diatagon—Mr-s. James Presbitero, assisted by Mr-s. Wilfredo Salvador
8. Kiara—Mr-s. Arcadio Gargar, Mr-s. Manuel Valdez, Mr-s. Pablo Rico
9. Kidapawan—Mr-s. Merlito Tonog, assisted by Mr-s. Abelardo Cuizon
10. Litig—Mr-s. Osias Eturalde, assisted by Mr-s. Aurelio Laguitao
11. Maramag—Mr-s. Osias Eturalde
12. Mati—Mr-s. Steve Budoyan, Mr-s. Raul Evaristo, Mr-s. Ricardo Gepanaga
13. Pantukan—Mr-s. Quillano Sabello and Mr-s. Renante Angana
14. Prosperidad (VG)—Mr. Job Gargar
15. Quezon (VG)—Mr. Felipe Arceo
16. Santiago (VG)—Mr-s. Jaime Dagani
17. Santo Tomas (VG)—Mr-s. Honorio Gilos
18. Tagum (VG)—Mr-s. Concepciano Bacor
*NOTE: Isulan and Tago video groups don’t yet have a designated person in charge.

Mr. Macaraeg hastened to add that this configuration is not “set in stone,” but will be reviewed periodically—after three months, and again after six months. Modifications will be made as the need arises.

From speaking with the participants and from the exit surveys, we can conclude that the whole event had been very successful and inspiring—and without a doubt, blessed by our Almighty God! Here are just three of the many comments we received:

“It is nice to know that we are assigned to one congregation where we can focus on the growth of our assigned congregation—unlike in previous years where we were assigned to handle two or more congregations—there was no follow-through on the congregation’s problems, concerns, and growth.”

“The most memorable topic for me was ‘Having Godly Character’ because it made me see that we still have a lot of work to do and I play an important role in this work as well. The seminar this year is better compared to last year’s because we have touched the inner core of the issues.”

“We would like to thank God for giving us the opportunity to attend this very helpful and informative seminar-workshop. Also, to all of you, sir—including the kitchen staff who worked hard to make this seminar-workshop a success—thank you very much!”

—Reported by Daniel Macaraeg

© 2007 United Church of God, AIA - Pilipinas